Lost
by awkwaffle
Summary: Elizabeth wakes up and finds herself in the Glade, with no memory of her past, just like the others. Everything seems to be going just fine, until one day, one by one, the Gladers start falling ill, and the Grievers are no where to be found. Will she be able to solve the mystery?
1. Chapter 1

_(By the way, yes, I know that Teresa is the first and last girl to come into the Glade, but let's just pretend that we don't know that.)_

Elizabeth woke up to the sound of boys chattering loudly. Groaning, she sat up and blinked a few times to adjust to the bright light. About forty to fifty boys were looking down at her, some smirking, some looking confused for some reason.

"It's a girl?"  
"What the hell?"  
"What's she doing here?"

"What?" Elizabeth croaked. Her voice cracked, like she hasn't spoken in a long time. She cleared her throat, then continued. "Have you guys never seen a girl before?"

A tall boy with blonde hair raised his eyebrows at her. "What's your name, Greenie?"

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. "Why should I tell you? I don't even know who you guys are!"

From somewhere in the crowd, she heard a boy shout "Feisty!"

Elizabeth was surprised to see that the blonde boy was smiling. "Name's Newt," he said, extending a hand out for Elizabeth to shake, who hesitated before taking it.

"Elizabeth," she replied, and let Newt help her out of the strange box that she arrived in. A dark skinned boy pushed his way through the crowd to stand in front of Elizabeth and smiled at her. "I'm Alby. The "leader" of this place. Newt here's second-in-command." Newt grinned sheepishly at the mention of his name.

Elizabeth nodded. "So, what _is_ this place, anyway?"

"Well, this place is called the Glade. That thing you just came out of," Alby gestured towards the strange box, "is called the Box."

"Pretty straightforward name," Elizabeth muttered under her breath, eliciting a small chuckle from Newt.

"The Box sends us supplies every week," Alby continued. "Food, water, clean clothes, you get it. Every _month,_ it sends up a Greenbean."

Elizabeth cocked her head to the side. "Greenbean?"

"That's what we call newbies," It was Newt who answered this time. "Anyway, you're, uh, the first girl to come here, so..."

"D'you have any memory of what happened before you got sent here?" Alby asked. Newt shot him a curious look. Elizabeth shook her head, suddenly realizing that her head was empty of memories.

"Speaking of memories," Elizabeth started. "Why can't I remember anything?"

"Don't worry, Greenie," Newt replied. "Neither can any of us here. The Creators probably tinkered with our brains before they sent us here."

"The Creators?" Elizabeth asked. "I'm sorry, what?"

"The Creators." Newt repeated. "The people that created this place, the people that put us here. For whatever reason."

"The Runners are back!" Someone yelled, and all heads turned to one of the four gaps in the walls that surrounded them. Three people came running in; two of them went straight to a building with an iron door, but the remaining boy just stood there, panting, drenched in sweat.

Alby left Elizabeth's side and ran over to the exhausted boy.

"Love at first sight, eh?" Newt's voice snapped Elizabeth back to reality. She didn't realize that she'd been staring at the boy.

"N-no, sorry, just..." Elizabeth coughed. "Anyway, what's a R-" she stopped mid-sentence when Alby came back.

"Newt, get her to the Homestead, tuck her in, blah blah blah. Make it quick. Minho says he's got interesting news for us."

Newt looked confused for a split second, then nodded and took Elizabeth's arm, leading her to a tall building made out of wood, that looked like it could collapse at any second.

"Hey Newt, it's a bit early to get it on with the girl, don't you think?" A boy yelled at them. Newt turned to scowl at him, then turned back and muttered "shuck-face" under his breath.

"Who was that?" Elizabeth asked.

"Gally," Newt replied. "Only the most annoying shank in the whole world."

Shank? Shuck-face? Elizabeth had no idea what these words meant, but decided not to question Newt about it.

Once they reached the Homestead, Newt pushed open the door, led Elizabeth up the stairs, and stopped abruptly in front of the last room down the corridor.

"Alright, then, Ellie," Newt opened the door and nodded at Elizabeth. Her cheeks flushed red at the nickname, but Newt didn't seem to think too much of it.

"T-thanks," Elizabeth answered. Newt smiled and began to walk away. No, _limp_ away.

"Why d-" she cut herself off before she could finish the question, deciding to save it for some other time. Newt turned back to look at her, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah?"  
"Nothing. Sorry."

The boy shrugged and hobbled away. Elizabeth went inside her room. It looked pretty bad, truth be told. She sat down on the bed and began to take off her shoes.

 _I hope Newt comes back soon. I have so many things to ask him._

Sighing, she slid under the covers and drifted into a dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

"Um, Elizabeth? Elizabeth, I think you should wake up-"  
"Hnng, who's there?" Elizabeth yawned, slowly straightening up and getting into a sitting position on the bed. Sitting beside her bed was a young boy, looked about twelve or thirteen years old, smiling uncertainly at her.

"What's your name?" Elizabeth asked kindly, deciding that this little kid definitely didn't mean any harm. The boy hesitated before answering, "Chuck."

"Nice to meet you, Chuck," Elizabeth grinned, holding out a hand for Chuck to shake. He took it gladly.  
"Uh, Alby told me to wake you up. A Gathering's about to start, and he wants you to join..."  
"A Gathering?" Elizabeth inquired, climbing out of the bed. Chuck nodded.  
"It's when all the Keepers get together and discuss a topic," he explained.  
"Keepers?"  
"Um, I think they'll explain to you once you're there," the little boy replied. "Come on."

Chuck led Elizabeth downstairs and to a large room. He gestured towards the door.  
"Are you not going to come with me?" Elizabeth questioned. Chuck shook his head.  
"Only the council are allowed into Gatherings. That's the ten keepers, and the two leaders - Alby and Newt. Oh, and one shank who's in trouble."  
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. "Oh, but I'm sure you're not in trouble," Chuck added quickly. "Well, good luck." he said before turning away and walking off. Elizabeth took a deep breath, and pushed the door open.

Twelve heads turned to face her as she entered the room. She felt her cheeks flush red at the attention, and quickly found an empty seat between Newt and some other guy she didn't know.

"Elizabeth." Alby greeted her. Elizabeth smiled uncertainly at him. She could still feel everyone's eyes on her.  
"Alright, then. Let's begin this Gathering." Alby continued. Elizabeth looked around the room properly, and noticed the boy from earlier. The boy Alby had approached. Minho, did Alby say his name was?

"Let's start by introducing ourselves, first." Newt spoke up. "As you all know, this is Elizabeth." he nodded at her. "That's Winston, Keeper of the Slicers. Frypan, Keeper of the Cooks. Zart, Keeper of the Track-hoes. Gally, Keeper of the Builders. Minho, Keeper of the Runners..." As Newt spoke, he gestured toward each of the boys in turn. After introducing all ten Keepers, he quieted down and looked at Minho expectantly. Elizabeth lowered her voice and said, "I don't und-" but Newt interrupted her.  
"I'll explain everything to you once the Gathering is over," the blonde boy whispered so that only Elizabeth could hear. She gave a tiny nod in response and the room fell into a somewhat uncomfortable silence. Minho was the one to break it.

"So, Alby, should we tell her the news?" he asked, and when the leader nodded, he continued. "We found a dead Griever out in the Maze today."

Some of the Keepers looked shocked; others looked incredulous. Elizabeth furrowed her brows in confusion, hoping that Minho would explain what a Griever was, but the Keeper of the Runners seemed to think that Elizabeth already knew. She opened her mouth to ask, but closed it again, remembering what Newt told her.

"A dead Griever? Please, Minho." Gally rolled his eyes. Elizabeth let out a small cough, then spoke.  
"Uh, why are you telling me this? I mean, I just arrived here-"  
"Because we think you might be involved." Minho didn't let her finish her sentence. Elizabeth looked at him, half angry and half confused.  
"Why do you think I'm involved? I have no idea what a Griever even is!"  
"Well, you just said so yourself - you just arrived here, and I don't think any of us can trust you yet. Plus, you're the first ever girl to come here." Newt pointed out. "We have a right to be suspicious."  
"The Creators must've sent you here for a reason." Alby added.

Elizabeth stayed quiet. The Keepers were murmuring to each other, every now and then shooting Elizabeth dirty looks. After a minute or so, Alby called for silence.  
"Okay, Elizabeth, do you remember anything that happened before you came here? _Anything?"_ he asked.  
Elizabeth shook her head. "Nothing at all. Not even my parents. Though, I do remember something..."  
Everyone looked at her expectantly.

"I remember being taken away from my parents... their faces were blurred out, though. Some people took me to some kind of... research lab?"  
Minho raised his eyebrows.  
"T-that's all I remember." Elizabeth kept her eyes trained on the ground. After a few seconds of silence, Alby stood up.  
"Alright, well then, that's all. Minho, stay behind, I want to talk to you about the Griever. Do you think you could lead me to it tomorrow?"  
Minho nodded in agreement. All the Keepers started standing up, and most of them left without a word.

Biting her lip, Elizabeth followed suit, her arms folded across her chest. Once she was outside the Homestead, she headed straight for the Deadheads, sitting down and leaning against a tree. Newt sat down next to her.

"Didn't you have some things you wanted to ask me about?" Newt said, smiling sweetly.  
"Yeah. A lot, actually."  
"I've got time."  
"What're Slicers, Track-hoes, Sloppers, all those things you mentioned back at the Gathering?"  
"Well, Slicers are the ones that take care of livestock, you see. They feed and raise them, and then slaughter them and give 'em to the Cooks. Track-hoes tend to the gardens. Baggers are Gladers that take care of dead bodies. They also act as... police around here. Sloppers are, uh, Gladers that aren't really good at any jobs, so they mostly do the dirty work, like cleaning up toilets, showers, and the Blood House. Med-jacks take care of injured Gladers. Builders... well, build, I guess." Newt took a deep breath before continuing. "Runners... They're the only ones who are allowed into the Maze. They go in there early in the morning, and return just before the walls close. They map it, memorize it, try to find a way out of this shucking place."

A long moment of silence followed.

"So, what are you?" Elizabeth asked suddenly. Newt seemed startled by the question.  
"I'm, um, nothing, really. Just second-in-command. I'm just there whenever someone needs help."  
"What's a Griever?"  
"A Griever. Those things are horrifying. It's a big, bulbous creature, with spikes, shears and rods all over its body. They sting you, and then you go through this painful "Changing" thing." Newt shuddered at the thought.

"Have you ever been stung?"  
Newt laughed. "No. And I certainly don't want to be stung."

Another moment of silence.

"Hey, Newt..."  
"Yeah?"  
"How'd you get your limp?"

Newt didn't answer for a few seconds, and he averted his eyes. His tone was firm and dismissive when he finally spoke again. "Something happened to me in the Maze."

Even though Elizabeth felt extremely curious, it was obvious Newt was upset and this was a sensitive topic to him, so she didn't press him any further.


End file.
